Nature is
infinite in space and time -- boundless and eternal, unfathomable and
ineffable. The all-pervading essence of infinite nature can be called space, consciousness,
life, substance, force, energy, divinity -- all of which are fundamentally one.

2) The finite
and the infinite

Nature is a
unity in diversity, one in essence, manifold in form. The infinite whole is
composed of an infinite number of finite wholes -- the relatively stable and
autonomous things (natural systems or artefacts) that
we observe around us. Every natural system is not only a conscious, living,
substantial entity, but is consciousness-life-substance, of a particular range
of density and form. Infinite nature is an abstraction, not an entity; it
therefore does not act or change and has no attributes. The finite, concrete
systems of which it is composed, on the other hand, move and change, act and
interact, and possess attributes. They are composite, inhomogeneous, and
ultimately transient.

3)
Vibration/worlds within worlds

The one
essence manifests not only in infinitely varied forms, and on infinitely varied
scales, but also in infinitely varying degrees of spirituality and substantiality,
comprising an infinite spectrum of vibration or density. There is therefore an
endless series of interpenetrating, interacting worlds within worlds, systems
within systems.

The
energy-substances of higher planes or subplanes (a
plane being a particular range of vibration) are relatively more homogeneous
and less differentiated

than those of lower planes or subplanes.

4) Space and
time

Just as
boundless space is comprised of endless finite units of space, so eternal duration
is comprised of endless finite units of time. Space is the infinite totality of worlds within
worlds, but appears predominantly empty because only a tiny fraction of the
energy-substances composing it are perceptible and tangible to an entity at any
particular moment. Time is a concept we use to quantify the rate at which
events occur; it is a function of

change and motion, and presupposes a succession of
cause and effect. Every entity is extended in space and changes 'in time'.

5)
Causation/karma

All change
(of position, substance, or form) is the result of causes; there is no such
thing as absolute chance. Nothing can happen for no reason at all for nothing
exists in isolation; everything is part of an intricate web of causal
interconnections and interactions. The keynote of nature is harmony: every

action is automatically followed by an equal and
opposite reaction, which sooner or later rebounds upon the originator of the
initial act.

Thus, all our
thoughts and deeds will eventually bring us 'fortune' or 'misfortune' according
to the degree to which they were harmonious or disharmonious. In the long term,
perfect justice prevails in nature.

6) Analogy

Because
nature is fundamentally one, and the same basic habits and structural, geometric,
and evolutionary principles apply throughout, there are correspondences between
microcosm and macrocosm. The principle of analogy -- as above, so below -- is a
vital tool in our efforts to understand reality.

7) Relativity

All finite
systems and their attributes are relative. For any entity, energy-substances
vibrating within the same range of frequencies as its outer body are 'physical'
matter, and finer grades of substance are what we call energy, force, thought,
desire, mind, spirit, consciousness, but these are just as material to entities
on the corresponding planes as our physical world is to us. Distance and time
units are also relative: an atom is a solar system on its own scale, reembodying perhaps millions of times in what for us is one
second, and our whole galaxy may be a molecule in some supercosmic
entity, for which a million of our years is just a second. The range of scale
is infinite: matter-consciousness is both infinitely divisible and infinitely
aggregative.

8) Hierarchy

All natural
systems consist of smaller systems and form part of larger systems. Hierarchies
extend both 'horizontally' (on the same plane) and 'vertically' or inwardly (to
higher and lower planes). On the horizontal level, subatomic particles form
atoms, which combine into molecules, which arrange themselves into cells, which
form tissues and organs, which form part

of organisms, which form part of ecosystems, which
form part of planets, solar systems, galaxies, etc. The constitution of worlds
and of the organisms that inhabit them form 'vertical' hierarchies, and can be
divided into several interpenetrating layers or elements, from physical-astral
to psychomental to

spiritual-divine, each of which can be further divided.

The human constitution
can be divided up in several different ways: e.g. into a trinity of body, soul,
and spirit; or into 7 'principles' -- a lower quaternary consisting of physical
body, astral model-body, life-energy, and lower thoughts and desires, and an
upper triad consisting of higher mind (reincarnating ego), spiritual intuition,
and inner god. A planet or star can be regarded as a 'chain' of 12 globes,
existing on 7 planes, each globe comprising several subplanes.

The highest
part of every multilevelled organism or hierarchy is
its spiritual summit or 'absolute', meaning a collective entity or 'deity'
which is relatively perfected in relation to the hierarchy in question. But the
most 'spiritual' pole of one hierarchy is the most 'material' pole of the next,
superior hierarchy, just as the lowest pole of one hierarchy is the highest
pole of the one below.

9) From
within outwards

Each level of
a hierarchical system exercises a formative and organizing influence on the
lower levels (through the patterns and prototypes stored up from past cycles of
activity), while the lower levels in turn react upon the higher. A system is
therefore formed and organized mainly from within outwards, from the inner
levels of its constitution, which are relatively more

enduring and developed than the outer levels. This inner
guidance is sometimes active and selfconscious, as in
our acts of free will (constrained, however, by karmic tendencies from the
past), and sometimes it is automatic and passive, giving rise to our own automatic
bodily functions and habitual and

instinctual behavior, and to the orderly, lawlike operations of nature in general. The 'laws' of
nature are therefore the habits of the various grades of conscious entities
that compose reality, ranging from higher intelligences(collectively forming the universal
mind) to elemental nature-forces.

10)
Consciousness and its vehicles

The core of
every entity -- whether atom, human, planet, or star -- is a monad, a unit of
consciousness-life-substance, which acts through a series of more material
vehicles or bodies. The monad or
self in which the consciousness of a particular organism is focused is animated
by higher monads and expresses

itself through a series of lesser monads, each of which
is the nucleus of one of the lower vehicles of the entity in question. The
following monads can be distinguished: the divine or galactic monad, the
spiritual or solar monad, the higher human or planetary-chain monad, the lower
human or globe monad, and the animal, vital-astral, and physical monads. At our
present stage of evolution, we are essentially the lower human monad, and our
task is to raise our consciousness from the animal-human to the spiritual-human
level of it.

11)
Evolutionary unfoldment

Evolution
means the unfolding, the bringing into active manifestation, of latent powers
and faculties 'involved' in a previous cycle of evolution. It is the building
of ever fitter vehicles for the expression of the mental and spiritual powers
of the monad. The more sophisticated the lower vehicles of an

entity, the greater their ability to express the powers
locked up in the higher levels of its constitution. Thus all things are alive
and conscious, but the degree of manifest life and consciousness is extremely
varied.

Evolution
results from the interplay of inner impulses and environmental stimuli. Ever
building on and modifying the patterns of the past, nature is infinitely
creative.

12) Cyclic
evolution/re-embodiment

Cyclic
evolution is a fundamental habit of nature. A period of evolutionary activity
is followed by a period of rest. All natural systems evolve through
re-embodiment. Entities are born from a seed or nucleus remaining from the
previous evolutionary cycle of the monad, develop to maturity, grow old, and
pass away, only to re-embody in a new form after a period of rest. Each new

embodiment is the product of past karma and present
choices.

13) Birth and
death

Nothing comes
from nothing: matter and energy can be neither created nor destroyed, but only transformed.
Everything evolves from preexisting material.

The growth of
the body of an organism is initiated on inner planes, and involves the
transformation of higher energy-substances into lower, more material ones,
together with the attraction of matter from the environment.

When an
organism has exhausted the store of vital energy with which it is born, the
coordinating force of the indwelling monad is withdrawn, and the organism 'dies', i.e. falls apart as a unit, and its constituent
components go their separate ways.

The lower
vehicles decompose on their respective subplanes,
while, in the case of humans, the reincarnating ego enters a

dreamlike state of rest and assimilates the experiences of
the previous incarnation. When the time comes for the next embodiment, the
reincarnating ego clothes itself in many of the same atoms of different grades
that it had used previously, bearing the appropriate karmic impress. The same
basic

processes of birth, death, and rebirth apply to all
entities, from atoms to humans to stars.

14) Evolution
and involution of worlds

Worlds or
spheres, such as planets and stars, are composed of, and provide the field for
the evolution of, 10 kingdoms -- 3 elemental kingdoms, mineral, plant, animal,
and human kingdoms, and 3 spiritual kingdoms. The impulse for a

new manifestation of a world issues from its
spiritual summit or hierarch, from which emanate a series of steadily denser
globes or planes; the One expands into the many. During the first half of the
evolutionary cycle (the arc of descent) the energy-substances of each plane
materialize or condense,

while during the second half (the arc of ascent) the
trend is towards dematerialization or etherealization,
as globes and entities are reabsorbed into the spiritual hierarch for a period
of nirvanic rest. The descending arc is characterized
by the evolution of matter and involution of spirit, while the ascending arc is
characterized by the evolution of spirit and involution of matter.

15) Evolution
of the monad

In each grand
cycle of evolution, comprising many planetary embodiments, a monad begins as an
unselfconsciousness god-spark, embodies in every kingdom of nature for the
purpose of gaining experience and unfolding its inherent faculties, and ends
the cycle as a selfconscious god. Elementals ('baby
monads') have no free choice, but automatically act in harmony with one

another and the rest of nature. In each successive
kingdom differentiation and individuality increase, and reach their peak in the
human kingdom with the attainment of selfconsciousness
and a large measure of free will.

In the human
kingdom in particular, self-directed evolution comes into its own. There is no
superior power granting privileges or handing out favours;
we evolve according to our karmic merits and demerits. As we progress through
the spiritual kingdoms we become increasingly at one again with nature, and
willingly 'sacrifice' our circumscribed selfconscious
freedoms (especially the freedom to 'do our own thing') in order to work in
peace and harmony with the greater whole of which we form an integral part. The
highest gods of one hierarchy or

world-system begin as elementals in the next.

The matter of
any plane is composed of aggregated, crystallized monads in their nirvanic sleep, and the spiritual and divine entities
embodied as planets and stars are the electrons

and atomic nuclei -- the material building blocks --
of worlds on even larger scales. Evolution is without beginning and without
end, an endless adventure through the fields of infinitude, in which there are
always new worlds of experience in which to become selfconscious
masters of life.

16) Universal
brotherhood

There is no
absolute separateness in nature. All things are made of the same essence, have
the same spiritual-divine potential, and are interlinked by magnetic ties of
sympathy. It is impossible to realize our full potential, unless we recognize
the spiritual unity of all living beings and make universal brotherhood the
keynote of our lives.